Home
by bbbbbbbbbbon
Summary: The fourth shinobi world war has just ended. The shinobi world is a wreck, and so are the lives of the heroes that fought in the war. Everyone is waiting to go home. But not everybody has a home to come back to.


Jonin HQ is cramped up. It is filled with shinobi exhausted to death, if not beaten up. Inside the building are all sorts of smell that range from blood, to sweat, to tears—if tears smelt. The Fourth Great Shinobi World War has just ended. Thanks to the kyuubi kid and the last remaining Uchiha, the world is saved from trouble again and everyone can finally go home—back to their expectant family—if any of them survived the war. Because many didn't.

But not everyone can go home just yet. All the jonin and chunin who can still walk are called up by the Hokage for another important task. Ugh, slave-driver. But who can blame her? Because of the war, the walls of the village are nothing but shambles now, and many a great shinobi were killed too. She can't let her guard down. She has to make sure that security remains tight in case an attack occurs at night when everyone is sleeping their nightmares of the war away. So she's assigning what little capable army she has left all over Konohagakure to watch over the village from nightfall to daylight.

All of the shinobi present understand it is their job to accept anything— _everything—_ that is given them. After all, this is what they signed up for. But hey, they too need to sleep their bad dreams away! Nonetheless, they keep their lips sealed and receive the task without a word of complaint. The agony, though, is stronger to those who have a family to go home to. The longing, the quiet urge to see them, to be with them, is so strong it's almost impossible to stay and not scram back to their respective households. So in their hearts they whisper words of comfort that if they wait just a little bit more, they will see their family in the morning again.

However, to some, "family" is only but a memory from a distant past. The Third Great Ninja War left a lot of the shinobi today fatherless and motherless, because that's what wars do. If they don't kill everyone, they leave people with no one else to lean on to. That's why some shinobi don't feel the same agony others do. They don't feel the need to rush home, for there really is no reason to. There is no reason to yearn. No reason to be excited. No reason to go home.

Harue understands this perfectly. She, herself, lost her father and mother at the Third Great Ninja War seventeen years ago. But unlike everyone else who suffered the same fate as her, she isn't "homeless." She has a home at Konohagakure. Not a bunch of piled up bricks, but a face and a pair of beautiful brown eyes. That's why she's striding, half-running, towards Jonin HQ right now.

She should be bothered by the fact that a civilian like herself is not allowed at the HQ. She knows this. After all, she is not a kunoichi. She is but a mere World History teacher at a local school. But despite being a civilian, she is not oblivious to the life of a shinobi. Because other than the fact that it is her responsibility as a history teacher to obtain a vast amount of knowledge about the shinobi world, she comes from a clan of shinobi in Konohagakure that possesses a rare and extinct sensory-type _kekkei genkai_. Rare, because the _kekkei genkai_ enables the user to sense levels of chakra, read human thoughts and emotions, be invincible from any form of genjutsu, extend such invincibility to others within her range, and control the mind of another person. Extinct, because she is the only remaining member of the clan who can wield such power with such finesse, since her parents' deaths.

She's running now. Jonin HQ is still too far away!

She never wanted to be a kunoichi. Ever. Since her parents' deaths, the Hokage herself has been trying to recruit her into the forces, offering to have her specially trained by an ANBU Black Op. But she turned down Tsunade's each and every attempt. She understands how much power she possesses but she loves teaching _and_ children. True, war is everywhere. But contrary to what many believe, war _is_ evitable. Because war starts in the heart, and the heart can always change.

She wants to change hearts. That is the path she decided to pursue, and she did! Her parents were never against her decision although they had always wished she'd use her power for the village's advantage. But then again, the _kekkei genkai_ has served its purpose well in the classroom too.

But not just in the classroom, though. Every now and then, she'd loiter around the village and try to "sense" emotions in order to understand people better. This helps her empathize with them. It's a hobby.

Her favorite subjects are always the shinobi since they are the ones who look tough on the outside but are crumbling on the inside. Difficult not to when your own comrades die before your eyes. She often ends up feeling sorry for them. However, she vows to never control anyone's mind as she finds it a form of intrusion, and is, thus, immoral.

Ten more blocks! Her strides have gotten longer now...

She remembers the first time she sees him...

 _ **She was at Ichiraku Ramen on her day off when a shinobi very quietly sat three seats away from her. He was very quiet. His movements were swift and smooth, almost impossible to detect even with her kekkei genkai. She was quite impressed! She hadn't noticed she had actually stopped eating as she started getting busy studying the man's undisturbed face. He had shoulder-length brown hair and honey-colored eyes. He wore the forehead protector like a bandanna and had a senbon in his mouth. Amazing how it didn't fall when he spoke! "One large bowl over here please," he said. But what was even more astonishing was how calm and collected he was. Not a single hint of emotion showed on his face. But then again, every shinobi is tough "on the outside." She smirked, and activated her kekkei genkai.**_

' _ **Your feelings may be a secret to the world but not to me, Shinobi.' She laughed in her head. Focusing her chakra towards her subject, she complacently cheered in her thoughts, 'Here…we…go!'**_

 _ **A few seconds had passed. 'That's odd,' she thought. 'I…couldn't read anything.'**_

 _ **She decided to go one more time and another minute had passed since she used her kekkei genkai on him again and still, nothing.**_

' _ **What—no way!' she began to panic. 'Again! Focus, Harue!'**_

 _ **She closed her eyes shut for a bit, shot them wide open, and desperately glared at the man a few feet away from her. 'Focus. Focus. Focus…' Her face was so serious and scary that anyone watching would think she was plotting some evil scheme against the man. A few moments later, she gasped and panted in exhaustion as she had used up so much of her chakra already.**_

' _ **That's impossible!' She was already going ballistic inside. 'I can't sense his emotions; I can't read his thoughts—WHAT is going on?!'**_

 _ **The shinobi's large bowl of ramen was served. At this point, Harue's pride had dwindled down. And so she decided to go against her own principles and test if her mind-controlling power could also not be used with him… What? She had no choice! She was the last remaining member of the clan who possessed the kekkei genkai; she had to know if she still had it, or if she had lost control over it, or if she could still feed her pride with it! She had to do something!**_

 _ **She turned her body fully toward his direction, lifted both hands and placed her index and middle fingers on her temples. This was a desperate attempt to focus all of her chakra solely on her brain and subject. When she saw the man innocently pick up his chopsticks, break them evenly and prepare to eat, she started activating her kekkei genkai yet again.**_

' _ **Alright,' she said in her thoughts with undented determination. She summoned all of her chakra in her brain and prepared to control his actions. The last thing she heard was the shinobi exclaiming, "Itadakimasu!" before a sharp weapon flew through the air toward her direction, piercing the wall behind her and vaguely missing her left ear! It was a senbon, and it came from the shinobi's direction!**_

 _ **The shop turned silent…**_

 _ **Harue gasped, "Hahhh!" letting out all at once all the air she held in. The senbon was aimed at her! Was she dreaming? She could feel her heart racing. Never in her life had she been shocked in such a horrendous manner! Her face started to burn with rage; her eyebrows met. She was a civilian, a member of the village. She was supposed to be protected, not attacked! HOW DARE HE!**_

 _ **Her lips parted open. She was about to give him a piece of her mind when suddenly, he was no longer three seats away from her. He was standing there now, right in front of her!**_

 _ **His body bent forward, his face stopping only a few inches away from hers. His hot breath tickled her lips, and his suspicious brown eyes dug deeply into her own black ones before traveling from her eyes down to her feet, and back up to her eyes… She held her breath again.**_

 _ **She didn't know what happened next. She only remembered waking up on her own bed the next morning. Her child-play at Ichiraku Ramen must have sucked her chakra dry.**_

Only four blocks away now…

She chuckles. Her first memory of him always makes her laugh, not only because it was a silly encounter but because it is where it all began for her. From that day on, her curiosity of the mysterious man slowly ate her up. She started investigating him, following him around everywhere in secret just to learn why she couldn't sense his emotions nor read his thoughts unlike everybody else. He was different. And for months, that became her argument whenever half her brain would tell her to stop. She realized she'd make a good ninja herself despite her lack of training as he never once noticed her presence.

All those detective work, however, only revealed very little about the man. She learned his name, address, occupation. He always orders pumpkin broth so she assumes it's his favorite meal. He's a big senbon-nibbler, is very "charming"—considering the flock of love-struck eyes women everywhere give him—and a real "ladies' man." In fact, he has a reputation for bedding almost every pretty lady in town (and in other towns)! She groaned with disgust when she first heard the rumor, but mind you, he doesn't just bed _any_ woman, and the proof of that she saw with her own two eyes!

One time, the hot actress Yukie Fujikaze was in town to film a scene for her new movie and he was assigned to guard her. Harue was following him like a criminal so she _"was there"_ when the actress flung herself at him and they tumbled into her hotel room _very eagerly_ where the shinobi spent the night! The bastard's got standards!

Oh, well, it's not like he has to exert so much effort in luring those women in. They _throw_ themselves _at_ him!

"It seems that I'm the only pretty lady with principles around here _,_ " she told herself smugly. But her inner peace was yelling something else at her: "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S BEEN FOLLOWING HIM AROUND, YOU CREEP!"

BUT, but, we have got to give the man the benefit of the doubt. Harue herself knows he's not all that bad! In fact, he visits the bookstore often and does not leave the place without a book in hand. He's a bookworm! It seems that he enjoys literature so much, so that's a plus, right? Interestingly, he only purchases books written by the same author _all the time._ Jun'ichiro Tanizaki was the name. _'So the man's got favorites. That's cute!'_ she thought, until she learned the kind of author Tanizaki was.

You think Kakashi's the only shinobi fond of smutty literature? Think again.

Eventually, she learned one more thing about him that isn't perverted, thank goodness. She learned that he has no family. But that was pretty much it. She doesn't know why he lives alone. She has no clue as to what happened to his parents. Most of the time he'd be away on missions, so it was getting more difficult to unravel the mystery behind his private life. And whenever he's around, he conceals every important detail of his life so well it's almost impossible to extract any information that everybody else does not already know.

And finally, one day, she had come to realize that she was no longer interested in finding out why he was invulnerable to her _kekkei genkai_. She had stopped being interested in fattening her own ego or whatever lame excuse she had when all these detective work began. It was no longer about her, but him.

So she stopped. Stopped caring about the mystery of his resistance to her power and all that stuff. Stopped following him around. Stopped trying to learn anything about him. She, however, began to look forward to those rare occasions wherein he'd just pop up from nowhere. Those times when she could watch him from afar for a little while before he'd disappear again. He'd walk her by with a few friends, laughing like no one's watching, or walk into the same coffee shop without knowing she was there. Sometimes their eyes would meet for a brief moment and she'd freeze. But he'd never recognize her. He had forgotten about her. She is but a dust from a distant memory. Just somebody who belongs to a sea of people that he doesn't know nor care about.

But those rare moments are the most precious to her. Whether it be minutes or seconds—none of these matters. Just having him around already makes her feel like she's not alone anymore. With a few things to know about him and to only personally encounter him once, she already feels like she has known him all her life... Like home.

And those moments when he's not around? Well, she spends them missing him.

' _But how about him?'_ she asks herself _. 'He fought in the war, put his life on the line for the entire village, and after all this, he has no one?'_

And Jonin HQ comes to view.

Harue decides against the urge to stop outside the building and catch her breath and instead just dashes her way inside the cramped building. And there they all are, the unsung heroes of the war.

But it is the flood of emotions engulfing her entire body that stops her in her tracks. She knows whose emotions those are and they aren't hers. The bolt of energy seeping through her skin isn't one or two things but a mixture of everything—fatigue, quiet joy, fear, loss, hope, vengeance, uncertainty, and many other things she cannot name.

The look on the shinobi's faces are the look of victory, grief, and war. They reek of sweat, blood, and weariness. They long for rest, peace, and home. There's plenty of them in the room but only a few is standing up or speaking to other shinobi. Most of them are slumped up at a corner, or on the chairs, or on the floor, or anywhere, with unmasked sheer exhaustion. There's dirt on their faces, wounds on their bodies, blood on their flak jackets, and tears on their fingers.

The shinobi world won the war, but the heroes look defeated. After all, many of them lost their friends and loved ones in the war. To them, winning it was no victory when they lost so many.

Harue takes slow steps inside the building and her ears begin to fill with voices:

' _Don't we look human to her? We get tired too! Ugh!'_

' _I need a warm shower and a delicious meal.'_

' _Why on earth did I become a shinobi?'_

' _Please, I want to see my mom.'_

' _From nightfall to daylight? Man, Tsunade's a real slave-driver!'_

' _I wish the cat did not get away.'_

' _Do they even know I'm alive?'_

' _This is one of those days when I regret not having a girlfriend.'_

' _I swear I can't stay up another night.'_

' _Boy, I miss my bed.'_

' _Neji's…dead?'_

The deepest part of the ocean is the mind of a shinobi.

Finally, she reaches the end of the room and there she finds him. Seated on a chair, his head down, shoulders heavy, arms resting on his lap—one look at him, she knows he is tired and weary. He has wounds on his arms, holes on his vest, and bandages wrapped around his hands. And his senbon? He's absentmindedly twirling it around his fingers. He's tired. He's very tired. Watching him like that just shatters her heart. She wants to run up to him and cradle him in her arms even if he'd probably just push her—a stranger—away. If doing so would alleviate his restlessness even just a little, she would.

But she can't move. Her feet, her feet won't budge. And words are too difficult to find. She stands there looking at him, feeling as helpless as he looks, and it dawns on her: How can she be his home when she can't even protect him?

Then he looks up. His brown eyes meet hers like those rare moments at the coffee shop. But this time, his eyes are no longer without recognition. Instead, they have a glimmer. The glimmer in the eyes when one's looking at the most familiar subject. She expects him to look away like he always does but he doesn't do it this time. He sits there holding her gaze, his face still stoic as ever, but his eyes…his eyes have changed.

It's as if time stopped. She's standing here and he's sitting there just staring at each other. She's struggling to move her lips, to tell him _anything_ , while he's just sitting there waiting.

But when she is finally about to speak, her arm is suddenly grabbed and pulled by someone. Next thing she knows, she is trapped between two strong arms in a tight embrace. An embrace that speaks of longing. Of ache. Of desire.

She looks up and sees shoulder-length brown hair. And it dawns on her. The glimmer in his eyes, his warm embrace—it all makes sense now!

Her heart is melting when she wraps her arms around the man in return. Tears stream down her face in realization before she hears him speak:

"I'm home now."


End file.
